True Feelings
by Ancient Kyubi
Summary: Sasuke trys to leave to gain the power he thinks he needs, but Sakura won't let him go so easily... What can she do though? right?
1. What needs to be done

**Ok this is my first fanfic. I will try my best to make sure it's good. I was struck by some inspiration for a fanfic but this chapter was the only way I could start it out. I know what you're gonna say when you read this but keep in mind everything deserves a chance. Please enjoy**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto**

**Chapter 1**

Silence fell upon the village of Konoha as night swept through it. The only thing to be heard was the rustling of the leaves on the ground and the wind blowing through the empty streets. Soon the footsteps could be heard from a dark haired shinobi running from rooftop to rooftop, making his way to the edge of the village. He could not stay here any longer, if he wished to obtain the power he needed to finally kill his brother he needed to find it elsewhere, and he knew exactly where to look. He knew what he would be leaving behind and he knew in order to achieve his goal he must leave his home and his friends behind. But this was a sacrifice he was willing to make.

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A pink haired kunoichi stared into the night as her mind wondered to the events that took place earlier that day. No matter how much she tried to get it out of her mind something about the whole thing just seemed to eat away at her. 

_"Naruto, let's fight," said an anxious Sasuke._

_"What?! But you just got out of the hospital!" said a surprised Naruto._

_"Come on I thought you wanted to fight me? I'm fine now, let's have a little match to see which one of us really is stronger.__" He was right Naruto had wanted to prove he was better than Sasuke ever since back at the Academy. Sasuke lead them to the rooftop of the hospital._

_"We'll see once in for all which one of us is truly superior," said Sasuke in a deep tone._

_"Ok but put your headband on first, it's ok I can wait while you get it," said a confident Naruto._

_"Don't worry," Sasuke said as he pointed to his forehead, "you won't be able to lay a scratch on my forehead!"_

_"That's not the point," shouted an annoyed Naruto, "I want you to put it on to symbolize that we are fighting on equal grounds as Konoha shinobi!"_

_"Heh, you are so naive we were never on equal grounds and it's funny how you still think that can even be possible," __said Sasuke with a smirk on his face. "Now SHOW ME WHAT YOU CAN DO!" As he finished he charged Naruto and t__hrew a barrage of punches at him__ Naruto barley managing to dodge each one, until one made contact and sent him flying backward. He got up and summoned up a bunch of shadow clones and they all charged Sasuke.__ But one by one he just took them down and they vanished in a poof. As he finished off t__he last one he jumped up onto a water tower to find where the real Naruto stood. __With his sharingan he easily found him__. Sasuke took up a stance Sakura__ hadn't seen since the chunin exams. He __spread__ his legs, dropped his arm straight down and began to gather his chakra__. Soon chirping birds could be heard as the massive concentration of chakra formed in his hand.__ Naruto heard this and turned quickly to see Sasuke. Without hesitation Naruto summoned a shadow clone and begun to gather chakra as well while his clone seemed to spin it around. Sasuke leaped into the air, "Chidori!!!"_

_Naruto leaped towards Sasuke, "Rasengan!!!"_

_Sakura ran forward, tears in her eyes and helplessly pleaded, "Please stop this!! STOOOOOOOP!!" __Their jutsu grew closer and closer and__they were__ just__ about to collide__ when__a one eyed ninja grabbed both their wrists and threw each genin into a water tower. Sakura dropped to her knees and in a sigh of __relief, "Kakashi-sensei." __Sasuke pulled his arm from the now crushed water tower uttered __an__ "Hn" and jumped away._

"That look in his eye…" Sakura whispered to herself, "And the way he was acting and talking. He didn't seem like himself." No matter how she tried the dark haired shinobi wouldn't leave her mind. '_Sasuke, if something was wrong you'd tell me wouldn't you_…' Sakura sighed, '_No I know something's wrong and I'm not just gonna sit by and let it happen._' Deep down she knew what was bothering him and she had a hunch where to find him. "But for everyone's sake… I really hope I'm wrong," she said looking down with a dismal look in her eye as she ran off to find the dark haired shinobi… **her** dark haired shinobi… **Sasuke**.

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As the dark haired shinobi made his way to his destination, '_When the hell did Naruto get that strong,_' he thought also remember the events that happened earlier,'_that only confirms that I need to __**go**__ to find the power I need._' The exit to Konoha was in sight so he picked up the pace a little. When he finally reached the gate he stopped right in front of it. '_This is it, once I leave these gates there's no turning back._' But something started to well up in the pit of his stomach, he wasn't sure what to make of it, was he just nervous about leaving or was it something he forgot, or needed to forget. 

"Sasuke," spoke a soft voice from behind him. At the sound of this voice the thing in his stomach grew and he knew just who could do that. But he couldn't turn look at that little pink-haired kunoichi whom he knew stood behind him. "Sasuke please, I know where you're going and I know why, but you can't go… you just can't," pleaded the voice. "I thought after all that's happened we've gotten past this… I thought you'd start to open up and tell me when something's bothering you and we could get you through it." What she said was true, over the past few months they had become closer and Sasuke even started to grow a soft spot for the little pink-haired kunoichi. Being around her had begun to break down the emotional barriers he had worked so hard to put up and he was afraid of what would happen once they came crashing down. But still he could not say a single word back to her or even look her in the eye. She continued on, "We are here for you and care about you, me, Naruto, and Kakashi-sensei. We want to help but you need to let us in first!" Sakura's eyes started to get cloudy. "Please don't leave… if you do we'll all miss you, it won't be the same without you. We can't stand to see you like this… I can't stand to see you like this, and I can't stand the thought of you leaving. When I do it tears me up inside." Tears started streaming down Sakura's face, "If not for your sake then for everyone else's sake, for **my** sake please don't go… it would kill me inside to watch you go." All her words cut through Sasuke like a thousand kunai, and yet still his body refused to move an inch. But nothing could prepare him for what she said next, "Sasuke, **I** **love you**!!" she screamed rivers of tears running down her face. Sasuke flinched at this statement, was it true? He had already known she had a crush on him ever since they were teamed up, she made it fairly obvious, but that's all he thought it as, **a crush**.

Finally Sasuke slowly turned around not lifting his head to meet her gaze. As he almost faced the pink-haired kunoichi he said in a soft voice, "Sakura…" he vanished and appeared right behind her and with a single tear rolling down his face said, "…I'm sorry…"

**WHACK**

He hit her in the back of the head and knocked her out cold. He caught her as she fell and walked her limp body over to a nearby bench. Then he ran out of the gates as fast as he could not looking back for an instant.

**Poof** Sakura's body disappeared leaving no trace of it behind. Then out of a nearby tree an exhausted Sakura jumped down in front of the gates. Breathing hard she said, "I never knew how much chakra it took to make a shadow clone… how does Naruto make so many all the time and all at once." '_I knew it would come in handy to go ask for some new training. Whoda thought Naruto could be such a good teacher_' remembering back to when she had asked Naruto to teach her the jutsu.

**I know this pretty much steals exactly from the show but just bear with me cuz I promise from now on it's 100 original... ok maybe 90 original I can't make it all up otherwise you know the characters and their personallities wouldn't be who they should... Please don't review just yet wait until I release chapter 2 before you do. And please don't flame me just to be mean, if you take the time out to flame me please make it constructive critisism. I promise I'm almost done with the 2nd chapter but I wanted to put this out there first... I hope it wasn't a mistake not to wait... **


	2. First Day of Training

**Chapter 2 is done!!! I hoped to get it out a little earlier but I needed to make a few ajustments. I've been experimenting with using honorfics but I'm not sure if I'll keep them or not... I don't see why not though it's just sometimes I have a hard time deciding wheather to use them or not, b/c like in Naruto some people just wouldn't use them all the time in my opinion(I don't watch the japanese version too much cuz I started in english and sometimes I don't know what things are b/c of how the japanese word things). This story has gotten more attention than I thought and I'm very happy for that!!!! It's people like you reading it, adding it, and reviewing it that help inspire me to write more. Enough talk ENJOY!**

**A FEW ****WEEKS EARLIER

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**

"Naruto can we go for a walk?" Sakura had asked nervously.

Naruto was very happy about this offer and responded with an over enthusiastic, "Sure let's go!"

They had started to walk in silence for a long time until Sakura broke it with her request, "Naruto do you think I'm weak?"

"What? No you're not weak Sakura," Naruto answered rather quickly, "But why are you asking me that?"

"On all our missions you and Sasuke do all the fighting while I just sit back and watch, and on more than one occasion you both even have to rescue me. So, I'm going to ask you again and tell me what you really think. Do you think I'm weak?"

Naruto sighed, "I don't think you're weak, **but**…" this but hit Sakura like a blunt shuriken but was the part she needed to hear the most, "…but you're not really all that strong either."

"Oh…" Sakura said depressed to hear the truth she had already known.

"N-No that's not what I meant, I mean…" Naruto said in panic from the tone of her reaction.

"No Naruto that's exactly what I wanted to hear," she said happily, "Now I have a favor to ask."

"Sure Sakura-chan anything!" he said in that over excited tone of his.

"Will…will you train me? And will you teach me the shadow clone jutsu?" asked Sakura blushing a little embarrassed.

Naruto hadn't expected to hear this come from the kunoichi's mouth but answered in a slightly unsure, "Sure I will Sakura."

"And don't go easy on me either train me as hard as I should."

Yet another thing he hadn't expected the young kunoichi to say but said, "Uh ok sure."

"One more thing…" Sakura added, "do you mind not telling Sasuke about this?"

"Don't worry about a thing as far as Sasuke knows the only person training you is Kakashi-sensei," said Naruto cheerfully. Although he wondered why she didn't ask Sasuke to train her he thought it best to leave it be.

"So I guess we should start as soon as possible," Sakura started, "how about tomorrow at dawn."

Naruto grabbed his sides and started laughing his head off. "Oh god Sakura, that was a good one, dawn, that's priceless." Naruto looked up to find Sakura with her arms crossed just staring at him.

"I wasn't joking, what's so funny?" asked Sakura.

"Sakura I don't even get up usually till about 10" answered Naruto.

Sakura sighed, "Yeah I guess dawn was a little drastic, I just really wanted to start my training. So what time should we start?"

"Hmm, meet me at the training grounds at 11:00 sharp."

Sakura was excited for some reason, I mean it was just training, she trained all the time but it just felt different this time.

That night Sakura had a hard time sleeping, inner Sakura kept scolding her for it, '**How are you supposed train tomorrow if you're gonna be up all night, cha!**' She eventually fell into somewhat of a sleep, none the less she woke up the next day full of energy.

She looked over at the clock and saw it was 10:00. "I've got plenty of time," she told herself. She walked out of bed got ready and ate some breakfast. "Alright now I'm ready to go," Sakura said, but when she looked at the clock it was already 10:50. "WHAT!?! No no no **NO!** I can't be late on my first day of training!!" Sakura shouted grabbing her head. With that she bolted out the door. As she was running inner Sakura shouted, '**Why'd you work on your hair so long if you're**** just training? Get your priorities straight ****cha!**'

When she got to the training grounds Naruto was already waiting. As she ran up to him and stopped to catch her breath, she ran all the way to the training grounds, he yelled at her, "Come on Sakura I think Kakashi-sensei is rubbing off on you, I said 11 sharp, are you gonna have some lame excuse for why you were late too?"

Sakura bowed slightly and said, "I'm sorry Sensei it won't happen again."

"Well for your sake…" Naruto stopped and blushed as he realized what she just said, '_Sensei_'. "Did you just… call me… Sensei?" Naruto asked blushing a little and still shocked.

Sakura slightly blushed at the question, "Well yeah I just thought you were teaching me so it just seemed natural to call you Sensei."

Naruto put his hands behind his head looked up to the sky and said, "Sensei huh? I like the ring of that."

Sakura came up to him, grabbed his collar, and told him firmly, "This is the only place I will refer to you as that and the only place you should expect it. You try to make me do it anywhere else and you're gonna have another thing coming to ya."

"Ok ok no need to threaten me," Naruto answered nervously, and with that Sakura released him. "Now let's get to training."

"Right," Sakura answered attentively.

"Now first things first let's see what you got?" said Naruto.

"O-ok," said Sakura nervously.

"Give me all you got no holding back anything, you got it?" commanded Naruto.

"Right," and with that Sakura charged. She threw a punch but Naruto easily dodged it. She swept her leg under him to make him fall to the ground but he jumped over. So she thought she'd try a different approach, she jumped into the trees and tried to get out of Naruto's view and she threw three kunai, but Naruto dodged them all. She tried close combat again, punch after punch after kick after punch, but no matter what she did she couldn't land a single blow on the hyperactive blonde. '_What's going on why can't I hit him?_' Sakura couldn't figure it out. So she tried another tactic, she got into a tree and grabbed three shuriken in each hand and threw then at Naruto, as he jumped to dodge them Sakura jumped towards him, '_G__ot__tcha!_' she hit him in the head and straight into the ground.

"That was a pretty good punch," Naruto said rubbing his head, "At least now I know what I'm working with."

Sakura walked over to where he stood, "What's next?" she asked.

"What's next what?" said Naruto holding a hand to his ear.

Sakura got irritated as she realized what he wanted, she gritted her teeth and said, "What's next… Sensei?"

"That's better," said Naruto with a grin. She merely glared at him, "Oh come on it was joke." But she still just stared. "Now you wanted to learn the shadow clone jutsu right?" he asked "Well it's better to learn by doing, so try it and summon one shadow clone for me." Sakura just sat there nervously. "Come on you've seen me do it a hundred times just make the hand sign," Naruto made the familiar hand sign, "and try it, I need to see your skills."

Sakura nodded. She made the hand sign and, "Shadow clone jutsu!" What came out was not what Sakura was hoping for. She had made a pathetic excuse for a clone, even worse than Naruto's were back at the academy. Sakura blushed and looked away embarrassed and disappointed.

Naruto attempted to comfort her, "No that was a good first try Sakura…"

But he was cut off, "No it wasn't, it was terrible…" said Sakura extremely disappointed. She was right of course but Naruto didn't want to say it.

"Just try it again Sakura I'm sure you'll get it, try gathering a lot of chakra first," said Naruto offering some advice.

"O-ok...," she focused, gathered her chakra, and, "Shadow clone jutsu!" as the smoke cleared and still on the ground lay a pathetic excuse for a shadow clone. She bowed her head in defeat.

"No that's ok, that's why I'm here to train you," said Naruto sympathetically.

"But you make it seem so easy Sensei," said Sakura with a sigh.

"A rule to live by, nothing is as easy as it looks, now I see you were expecting to just get this right away huh?" said Naruto raising an eyebrow in suspicion.

"What? No that's not it at all," said Sakura waving her hands in front of her face, she had thought it would be easier than this though. "It's just you always seem to summon wave after wave of them without breaking a sweat."

"Well you won't be able to do that, even if you train as hard as me because you don't have…" Naruto said quietly to himself while clutching his stomach.

"What?"

"Nothing… Hey we've been at this for a while let's go grab some lunch."

"But we've hardly done any training," complained Sakura, "I told you not to go easy on me! We're going to stay and train more."

"Ok then, you want training," Naruto said with a smirk, "Fine give me 20 more attempts at the shadow clone jutsu…"

"As a little warm up." Naruto added.

"Right," she said obediently. She gathered chakra once again, "Shadow clone jutsu!" yet another reject clone.

"Shadow clone jutsu!"

"Shadow clone jutsu!"

"Shadow clone jutsu!" one after another Sakura attempted the shadow clone jutsu and one after another she failed. She reached the tenth attempt and started to get dizzy.

"Come on don't stop now only 10 more to go!" said Naruto with a mixture of encouragement, demand, and a little enjoyment.

Grabbing her head she said, "O…k". So she started again "Shadow clone jutsu!" and once again she went one after another useless clone after useless clone. Once she finally finished her set she had used nearly all her chakra and barley managed to finish.

"Alright there were some good attempts in there but it doesn't seem like we're making any progress with them so we're done with the shadow clone for now." Before Sakura could ask if they were done Naruto screamed, "Look alive Sakura!" She looked up to find a punch flying right towards her face. She didn't have time to think, she managed to move away but the fist still grazed her face. Without much energy left she fell to the ground gasping for breath.

"What the HELL was that for?" shouted Sakura, but she didn't get a chance to yell at Naruto some more because a shuriken came flying right towards her, since she didn't have the reflexes or the chakra to dodge at the moment she closed her eye's and waited for the impact. But it never came. She opened her eyes to find Naruto pulling the shuriken out from the ground right in front of her. "Come on stand up!" he demanded. "If you wanna get stronger you're going to have to learn to fight even when you're this low on chakra, because once you learn to fight strong like you are now you'll have no problem doing it at full power," Naruto explained.

Sakura summoned up all her strength to get up; she wasn't sure how she'd hold up, or if she'd even be able to move. But she knew she had to do this, so she sucked up her strength and charged Naruto, because of her low chakra level she was easier to read than before, so Naruto had no problem moving out of the way. Once he moved though Sakura kept going, she fell to the ground and lost consciousness.

She slowly opened her eyes to find an orange sky above. It was already dusk, had she really been asleep that long. She lifted her head to find herself leaning on Naruto, "Finally you're awake Sakura-chan, I was getting worried," he said with a goofy grin.

"Have you been waiting here with me the whole time," Sakura asked sleepily.

As if answering her question his stomach growled and he blushed and said, "Yeah, I didn't wanna leave you all alone especially when you were out cold."

Sakura fully awake now worryingly said, "Oh no Naruto, you mean to tell me you sat here all day and didn't even get to eat lunch all because of me?"

"No it's okay I don't mind really," lied Naruto, he didn't like to miss lunch or any meal for that matter, but for the sake of Sakura he would manage through it.

Sakura stood up and her stomach growled. She blushed, grabbed her stomach, and said, "Come on let's go get some Ramen on me as thanks for the training and for missing lunch."

"Sure let's go," jumped an extremely motivated Naruto. They walked out of the training field and made their way to Ichiraku Ramen. "Ayame-neesan," shouted Naruto at the back of the girl in front of him. As she turned to see her favorite customer she smiled brightly and asked, "Hi Naruto-kun what will it be," as if she didn't already know the answer. "Pork ramen please," he said cheerfully.

"Now Naruto don't pig out on your usual fifteen bowls of ramen, remember **I'm **the one paying," Sakura butted in. Naruto looked slightly disappointed but smiled in acceptance. Ayame smiled at the pink-haired kunoichi that sat next to her little Naruto. "I'll have the same," Sakura said. When she delivered the food she whispered in Naruto's ear, "She's cute, but making your girlfriend pay isn't the gentlemanly thing to do…," Naruto blushed at this and quickly said, "N-no you've got it all wrong," but Ayame just giggled and walked away. Naruto buried his face in his bowl to avoid having to answer the question he knew was coming, but it seemed unavoidable.

"What did she say?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Nothing…," Naruto said trying to avoid the question.

"Come on just tell me," pleaded Sakura.

Naruto blushed slightly knowing she wouldn't leave it alone until she got an answer, "She said…it was wrong of me to make you pay for my food."

"Oh…," she replied a little disappointed at the answer. They finished up and Sakura got up to pay, when she gave Ayame the money she looked over at Naruto shook her head and giggled. Naruto blushed slightly and Sakura was still in the dark, until they started to walk away and she called after them saying playfully, "You kids play nice now, I don't wanna have to see her belly growing in a couple months Naruto-kun." Naruto and Sakura both blushed as Sakura realized why Ayame had been looking over at them and giggling the whole time they were there. She could only guess what she really whispered in Naruto's ear.

"Don't pay any attention to her, I've grown up eating there so she's kinda like a sister to me, so she likes to tease me like that," explained Naruto. The rest of the way was in silence, Naruto decided to walk Sakura home since he was afraid she still may be very weak from the training. When they reached her house she said, "Goodnight and thank you for the training," Sakura said.

"Don't thank me just yet, you'll have to go through this training everyday. The way you sound you'd think this was the only time," said Naruto. At the thought of doing this everyday Sakura just hung her head, walked inside, and went straight to bed.

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**Well that's chapter 2. FYI the story will continue on for a little in this in the past flashback type thing until further notice. I hope you weren't dissapointed. Writing this like squeezed the creativity out of me and totally drained me(pathetic or what?) but I got a few idea's for the next chapter.**


	3. Second Day of Training

**Ok it took me like 2 weeks but finally chapter 3... After my burst of inspiration for the beginning, and the end but I can't do anything with that until I actually get there... but I've been writing blindly for most of the chapter, like I havn't been into it, I've been writing words but haven't felt them... if you can understand that. But towards the end I've started to get back into it and can feel what I'm writing... I hope this doesn't suck as much as I thought... here goes nothing...

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Sakura awoke the next day with her body very sore. She felt horrible yet still inner Sakura praised her, "**Now that's the kind of training you need to be doing cha!**" '_But I can barely walk… ugh I'm so stiff_' "**Well get used to it, remember you have training… every… single… DAY**" '_Ugh please don't remind me…_' Sakura slowly drug her body down the stairs and out the door. She somehow managed to make her way down to the training ground. She wasn't surprised to see Naruto already there but she was a little annoyed. She had to pretty much force herself down there and here he was just raring to go.

"Hi Sakura-chan," said Naruto. Giving her a quick lookdown and said, "Wow you look terrible."

**WHACK**

Sakura hit Naruto on the head, "What the hell is wrong with you, you never say shit like that to a girl!"

"Ow, well **you're** never supposed to raise a hand to your Sensei," said Naruto rubbing his head. "Let's just start today's training. I know it may be repetitive to ask but first things first try the Shadow clone jutsu, it's gonna be the first thing we do at training."

Sakura thought to herself timidly '_Even after that sleep last night I think a Shadow clone jutsu is out of the question. Maybe if I just…_' **Poof**, out of the smoke appeared a perfect clone right next to Sakura.

"Wow Sakura-chan that was…" Naruto started but then got an irritated look on his face. "Sakura, what is this?" he said pointing at the clone.

"It's a Shadow clone," she said with a bead of sweat dripping down her face.

"No. No it isn't," he said bluntly, "You can't trick the master. You think I'm so dense I don't know the difference between a Shadow clone," Naruto waved his hand through the clone disrupting it's form and causing it to disappear, "and just an afterimage." She really hadn't intended on making an afterimage she actually thought she made a Shadow clone or at least hoped. '_I guess subconsciously I was so sick of failing that I made__a__n__afterimage__ instead_' Sakura inwardly sighed, '_But I highly doubt Naruto would believe that, or understand it for that matter._'

"N-no I wouldn't try to trick you Sensei," she said with such an innocent look Naruto just let it go.

Naruto sighed, "Well anyhow that actually leads us into your training for today. I know you're probably not used to training so hard and by the looks of it your body is very sore." He smirked at this, feeling he accomplished his goal.

"Say what?" asked Sakura confused.

"Today's training will focus a lot less on your physical strength and a lot more on your mental strength," he said pointing at his head.

Sakura had to fight back a laugh. "**And what does he know about mental strength?**" teased inner Sakura, '_Tell me about it_'

Naruto unaware of Sakura's mental conversation continued. He made two clones appear on either side of him. They all three jumped out of sight then a few seconds later they all reappeared. The one on the left started off, "Ok this is your test, you have to pick out which one of us is the real Naruto," the one on the right continued, "which one is the Shadow clone," the one in the middle finished, " and which one is an afterimage." They all three smirked, "Choose wisely".

Sakura concentrated, she marched in front of each Naruto and looked everywhere she thought might be a tell. One time when she was inspecting their backs one of the Naruto's turned around to say, "Hey back there keep your eyes above the waist," Sakura blushed but continued with what she was doing. The Naruto's snickered at her. After what seemed like forever Sakura thought, '_I have no idea which one is which__. They all look the same to me, I guess guessing is the only other option._' She stopped in front of the Naruto on the right, "Ok this is the afterimage," she said trying to look convincing.

The Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure about that?"

Sakura hesitated. Then she replied, "Yes."

"How sure?" asked the Naruto, "Sure enough to let me throw this shuriken at you?"

"Um well I…"

"Come on if you think I'm just an afterimage then this should just pass right through you and not leave a scratch."

"S-sure I'm positive," worryingly said a scared Sakura.

"Alright then," said the Naruto as he got ready to throw the shuriken. He threw it through the air, Sakura shut her eyes tight, and it passed right through her body just like Naruto had said. "Good guess," was the last thing the afterimage said before it disappeared. Then another Naruto jumped in, "But can you tell me why you chose that one as the afterimage?"

Sakura froze, she should have known he would ask why but she didn't think Naruto would be so thorough. "Well," she dropped her head in shame, "no".

"Come on Sakura you should know that from back at the academy," scolded Naruto, "Here let me show you." Naruto summoned another afterimage but made sure both Naruto's made the hand sign because Sakura still needed to pick out the Shadow clone. "Look at the ground, remember afterimages don't have a shadow because they don't have a physical form, they're only an image." Just as Naruto had said there wasn't a shadow to be seen. "But because Shadow clones have a solid form they aren't so easy to tell from the real thing, but there is a tell," added Naruto, "It just takes skill and knowhow and you'll be able to do it in your sleep."

"Sit down and close your eyes," instructed Naruto. Sakura obediently did so. "Now Shadow clones have a physical form, but their entire being is made of chakra, so their body is constantly giving off a lot of chakra. If you clear your mind and focus you will be able to feel this chakra and pick out the Shadow clone no problem." So Sakura cleared her mind and tried to feel out everything around her. She felt at peace while she did this. Then she noticed something, a strange feeling coming from one specific direction. At first she couldn't find a word to describe it, but she soon decided, '_warm_'. Without opening her eyes she pointed towards the Naruto on the left and said, "You are the Shadow clone," with that he grinned and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Sakura felt something pull her up and grab her, "Yes Sakura-chan good job."

"Now for something harder," Naruto summoned a hundred Naruto's, "Alright this time you just pick which are Shadow clones and which are copies. I want you to hit all the copies with shuriken and all the Shadow clones with kunai, that way I'll be able to tell how you do." Sakura began at once targeting each Naruto with deadly accuracy and quickly striking them down one by one. When she finished up Naruto judged how she did, "Ok I put out 30 copies and 70 clones, but you seem to have about 45 shuriken out here. Alright now let's go again."

After a few more hours of this training they called it a day. "Ok now let's go eat."

"Just for your information I'm not gonna pay for you this time," Sakura reminded Naruto.

His hopes dropped, "I know."

Sakura giggled at his expression, "Come on let's go."

Training went on as usual for the rest of the week, same time everyday only taking a break on Saturday and Sunday. Sakura was slowly improving, she was getting stronger and more skilled with each passing day. She was getting strong enough that when her and Naruto would spar he wouldn't be afraid to throw a punch. At first he didn't want to hurt her but after a while she insisted he start to fight back, and soon after he didn't have much of a choice. But as much skill as she gained and with the skill she had with her chakra control the Shadow clone jutsu seemed all but possible. But she wasn't going to give up just yet.

'_Training training, training,_' Sakura sighed, '_it's just so repetitive, day after day, I'm starting to get sick of it._' She slowly made her oh so familiar walk to the training ground, she sighed again. Naruto was there before her as always. And today they started with some sparring. Naruto charged Sakura, as he ran Sakura stood her ground. He threw a punch but Sakura easily interpreted his attack and dodged it. She grabbed his arm while she dodged and threw him towards a tree. But he recovered and jumped off the tree into another assault. This time hitting her, she slightly moved out of the way so it wasn't a direct blow but it still made contact and pushed her back.

'_She barely even tried to dodge that attack,_' thought Naruto, but hearing the sounds of snapping wire he quickly jumped out of the way of a barrage of shuriken and kunai. '_A trap!? When did she have time to set that?_' Naruto quickly took the offensive summoning a hoard of Shadow clone to push Sakura back towards the river. It worked and she fell back towards the river. As she landed on the bank two shadow clones jumped out of the water in a surprise attack but as their blows landed Sakura disappeared with the substitution jutsu into a nearby tree.

With all the training she had been getting she could easily tell the real Naruto out of all the Shadow clones frantically running around below her. So she hit the real one with her specialty, a genjutsu.

Sakura jumped out of the tree right in the middle of the Naruto's, all at once they attacked. Several started by throwing kunai, then the rest came in for close combat. When there seemed to be no resistance anymore Naruto undid the jutsu leaving just him and Sakura. But as Naruto approached Sakura he heard strange sounds coming from her. She was clutching her stomach and crying. Naruto stood in shock, and upon further inspection of her clutched stomach her shirt was becoming stained with blood. "Sakura-chan! Oh no, please no, Sakura I'm sorry!" said Naruto panicking.

"Naruto…_**sniff**_… you over did it… you jerk," Sakura managed to say through the pain and tears. Naruto slowly tried to make his way to Sakura who soon started to cough up blood.

"Ahhhhhh!!" shouted Naruto grabbing his head in a confused pain, "I'm sorry Sakura-chan! I'm sorry I'm sorry," he muttered this over and over.

Sakura, who still stood in the tree, began grinning at her jutsu's effectiveness, though now she thought she may have overdone it a little. But as Naruto knelt next to what he believed was her wounded body he reached the peak of his emotional stamina and he just couldn't bare anymore of this torment his body gave out and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Wait what?!" as soon as the words left her lips she felt the cold hard steel of a kunai pressing against her neck. "Check mate" whispered a familiar voice in Sakura's ear. "But how did you escape my genjutsu without me even knowing I was watching the whole time, and I hit you directly with it."

"I told you how to tell a Shadow clone from the real thing… but I never said that you couldn't get around that little detail now did I?" gloated Naruto.

"Come on tell me, how'd you do it?" asked Sakura pushing away the kunai.

"Well what good of a Sensei would I be if I didn't pass on my knowledge to my student."

'_Alright he has been getting way too much enjoyment out of this whole Sensei thing… I'm starting to regret starting it,_' Sakura inwardly sighed, but quickly brought herself back to reality not wanting to miss what Naruto had to say.

"First off I snuck away while the clones surprised you from the river. Then I made a clone with a lot more chakra than usual so he didn't have to give off so much at once and had him try to repress his chakra, giving the illusion that it was me. Then I just waited for you to get caught off guard when the clone disappeared," explained Naruto.

"Wow that was pretty clever considering who came up with it," said Sakura.

Naruto nodded at this, "Yeah… Hey wait what are you trying to say?!"

Sakura giggled, "Nothing. Let's just get on with training."

"Fine, let's try some taijutsu practice, and I mean strictly taijutsu." They started to spar. It went on for an hour taking a short break every 15 min. They were both getting tired after the training.

"Ok now we'll end today with the usual. Give me a Shadow clone!" Naruto demanded.

Sakura stood up from the tree she was leaning against. '_Come on, you can do this just focus._' Sakura closed her eyes and concentrated her chakra, she was very careful of how she released it. She focused harder, letting out more and more chakra, molding it just the way she needed it. The ground started to shake and chakra danced this way and that, it made it's way into the tree she stood under. It shook from the chakra being poured into it but Sakura took no notice of any of this, she merely continued concentrating her chakra, '_It has to be perfect_' she thought to herself. Her eyes burst open flaring with chakra and she almost screams, "SHADOW CLONE JUT-" but she was cut short as a branch snapped and hit her on the head knocking her out cold.

Everything was a bit hazy as she came to, but there was one distinct thing that stood out from everything else, "Pink…"

* * *

**OOOOOOHH SUPER OBVIOUS CLIFF HANGER!!!!!!!! Ha ha yeah... I'll try to work harder on chapter 4**


	4. Finally

**Okay I know it has been six months and I would just like to say (gets down on knees) SORRY SORRY SORRY!! I AM SOOOOOOOOOO SORRY!! I just couldn't seem to write anymore of this. But I don't want to give any excuses... I mean this crappy chapter is all I got to show after six months (most of which I never even thought about this story)... I just suck when it comes to writing and keeping a steady pace... And now putting it into fan-fiction it seems even shorter than it was in Word... o well...**

* * *

"Pink… hair?" Sakura sat up and met face-to-face with… _Herself?!_

The Sakura in front of her spoke, "Oh good you're awake, we were worried about you?" Sakura was still in shock that **she** was standing over **herself** and was worried about her.

Naruto then rushed over and embraced Sakura, "Sakura-chan, YOU DID IT, YOU FINALLY DID IT!"

Snapping back to reality Sakura responded, "S-so this is my… Shadow clone?" she asked pointing to the other Sakura.

"Yes I am," said the Shadow clone, then she embraced Sakura, "and I'm so proud of you for finally making me," the Shadow clone then gave Sakura a quick kiss on the cheek. This made a small blush crawl across her face. '**Aww isn't that sweet!**' '_Sh-shut up baka!_''**Why are you blushing anyway? You were only kissed by yourself.**' '_I-I don't know why… it just happened_.' Naruto and Shadow-Sakura just stared dumbfounded at each other watching Sakura staring into space.

"Uh Sakura, are you ok?" asked Naruto waving a hand in front of her face.

Snapping out of her trance she replied, "Yeah I'm fine." She got up and dusted herself off. "How did I get knocked out anyway?"

"Oh, well when you were gathering chakra that branch gave way and hit you on the head. All right now that you're up let's go eat!" shouted Naruto.

Shadow-Sakura wrapped an arm around each of them, "Great I'm starving!"

"Um you're not coming with us," said Naruto bluntly.

"Aww why not," whined Shadow-Sakura.

"Yeah come on Naruto she's like the sister I never had," added Sakura. Then they both got in front of him put on their most innocent look and said in unison, "Pleeeease…"

It was too cute for Naruto to say no, but he had to reminded her, "But if you walk into town with her then Sasuke might see, and I thought you wanted to keep this training a secret."

"Fine be that way," pouted Shadow-Sakura, "Bye-bye" she waved goodbye and vanished in a cloud of smoke.

"Now let's go eat!"

"Ok but can we go somewhere other than Ichiraku?"

Sakura shattered Naruto's hopes, "Well it is in celebration for you…_sigh_… did you have somewhere in mind?" asked Naruto in an unusually monotone voice.

"Well now that you mention it there is this new sushi place in the village that just opened up and I really wanted to check it out," Sakura said hopefully.

"Sushi huh," grunted Naruto in disgust.

"Come on," Sakura sighed and added, "I heard they have ramen there too."

Naruto grinned, "What are we waiting for?" Sakura and Naruto walked off back to town.

As they walked through the gates they had no idea they were being watched. They made their way to the restaurant being stalked the whole time. '_They seem to be spending a lot of time __together lately,_' thought a stalking Sasuke to himself. He had noticed them walking together in the village after training before, but didn't know where they were coming from, he only knew what he thought was right in front of his eyes. '**Is that a problem, you told Sakura yourself that she didn't have a chance with you. Remember you said it was because she was so annoying.**' '_I know what I said._' '**Then what are you getting at?**' '_They just look so… happy together_.' He watched as Naruto spilled ramen all over himself while Sakura laughed her head off and handed him something to clean up with. '**Is this as painful for you to watch as I think it is?**' '_I have no idea what you're talking about. If anything… this just makes things easier._' Sasuke then jumped away, but not before catching someone's eye.

'_That couldn't have been…_'

"Hey Sakura are you ok?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm just fine."

**BACK TO THE PRESENT**

* * *

"Well that's enough strolling down memory lane, I gotta hurry and catch up with Sasuke… before it's too late," said and now fully determined Sakura. '_Sasuke… it was you wasn't it, that day. Well I won't let you leave, not now not ever!_'

* * *

**Well there you have it, six months for... that... Well I don't wann make any promises about making the next chapter soon b/c I'll just feel bad when I don't get it done. I know I totally suck don't I?... Plus school is starting again tomorrow... O gawd just thinking about it depresses me... but now it just sounds like I'm making excuses again and I don't like to do that so I'll stop now. O! and FYI this story will only have one or two more chapters anyway. I never really planned on making it a long story but I hope I can make the last one as great as the idea seems in my head... I will at least try to get more determined and write more often though (determined pose) yes THAT I will promise!!**


	5. The Final Chapter

**I don't want to use this time to make up reasons why I haven't worked on this. I'm sorry, I just stopped and after everything that happened I had no will to come back to this, but I've stayed up late all week working on this and I hope that this ending is satisfying. I know I enjoyed writing it. Enjoy.**

* * *

Strands of silver moonlight shimmered through the dense forest lighting a path for the raven haired shinobi. His mind becoming clouded as thoughts began to drift to a certain pink haired kunoichi. '_Damn it!_' thought Sasuke, trying to get these thoughts out of his mind.

'**What's the matter, something on your mind?**' taunted his inner.

'…'

'**Can't stop thinking about her can you? Why don't you just save yourself the pain and just go back to her?**' taunted his inner still.

'_Just shut up. That part of my life is over and has been ever since I decided to step outside the gate_,' explained Sasuke, '_and besides…_'

'**Besides what?**'

'_She… doesn't need me anymore, she… she has Naruto now_' even just thinking it gave Sasuke a strange, almost pain in his body.

'**Then why did she say she loves **_you_**, not Naruto, **_you_**!**' argued his inner.

'_It was just a desperate last minute attempt to try to make me stay, nothing more…_' retorted Sasuke.

'**You're just in denial,**' stated his inner.

'_Shut up! Your getting on my nerves! This conversation is over,_' Sasuke shouted into his head as he focused his thoughts on moving forward.

It didn't take Sakura long to find Sasuke's trail, but it was taking a bit longer than she thought to catch up to him. Sasuke became so absorbed by the simple act of jumping from branch to branch that he didn't even notice he was being stalked. Sasuke came to a halt on the next branch he landed on to observe his surroundings, "Where could they possibly be? They go through all the trouble of infiltrating the village to give me the message and I can't even find them anywhere," said Sasuke to the wind, slightly annoyed.

Just then a kunai went whizzing past Sasuke's head and embedded itself in the very tree he was leaning on. As he looked around to see who had thrown the offending kunai he was surprised to see Sakura standing on the ground below, readying another kunai.

"S-Sakura! But how?" Sasuke shouted.

"I'm not just gonna sit back and watch you walk out of my life and abandon this village!" shouted Sakura ignoring his question. "Now are you gonna come back quietly…"

"… or am I gonna have to throw you over my shoulder and drag you?" said a voice coming from behind Sasuke. He jerked his head around to see pink hair glowing in the moonlight and a fist flying right for him; he skillfully dodged it and threw a fist of his own, but his fist met empty air.

Sasuke quickly leapt into the air just as four kunai knives embedded themselves into the branch on which he had stood. Sakura took her chance while he was freefalling and tackled Sasuke to the ground. Sakura thrust her fist toward Sasuke, aiming directly at his face and holding nothing back.

"Ugh," Sakura retracted her hand in pain. Instead of colliding with Sasuke's perfectly crafted face, her fist hit the ground—hard—leaving a small crater in it's place.

"You're good Sakura, I'll give you that," Sakura stood up, twisting her head left and right, searching for the source of the voice, "but I'm better!" Sasuke shouted as he pounced on Sakura from behind and shoved her skull into the dirt.

He was better, she had to admit, but she still had confidence that she could trick him. All she needed was an opening, for him to slip up, just for a moment, that was all she needed. When Sakura's body disappeared in a cloud of smoke under Sasuke's hand, that was just what she got. Sasuke was so shocked at this he didn't see Sakura lunging toward him until he felt her foot connect with his side.

"Ha-" she shouted as Sasuke flew through the air.

"-ru-" shouted a shadow clone of Sakura sending Sasuke's body soaring back the other way.

"-no," shouted a third clone sending Sasuke's body hurling into the dirt.

"Sakura Barrage!" all three Sakuras chanted as they all slammed their legs into Sasuke's stomach.

The Shadow clones disappeared and the true Sakura walked cautiously toward Sasuke's still body. Before she could reach it, Sasuke's body vanished—a log lying in its place. Sakura was quickly on guard and began scanning the area in search of him. It wasn't difficult because he soon came staggering into view, clutching his stomach and using a tree for support.

"What's wrong, Sasuke? I thought you were better than this," taunted Sakura.

"I didn't know you could be this strong. Or maybe I am weaker than I thought—first Naruto, now you," Sasuke's teeth clenched in frustration.

"You're not even taking this seriously. You haven't used a ninjutsu once. Quit messing around Sasuke, it's time to stop all this and go home," Sakura half pleaded, half demanded.

"Just go home, Sakura and let me go. This is something that I have to do," said Sasuke.

"No, you made the mistake of underestimating me, and now I'm going to drag you back to the village kicking and screaming," said Sakura, walking slowly towards Sasuke.

Sasuke tried to move away, but the splitting pain in his abdomen kept him clutching his side instead.

"There's no where to run, Sasuke," stated Sakura as she began to form hand signs, moving ever closer.

Sasuke knew he couldn't run at the moment, and Sakura was almost done forming hand signs, so he had to think fast. As Sakura was reaching the final hand signs, Sasuke looked directly into her eyes. He activated his Sharingan, and in the light of the full moon, and with Sakura being so close, they were clear as day. Sakura couldn't look away. As the tomoe began to swirl around in Sasuke's iris, Sakura knew it was all over. The world around her melted away and she fell to the ground unconscious.

Sasuke took a moment to collect himself, and to rest. He didn't think of Sakura as much of a threat, and he was indeed paying for that mistake right now. When the pain started to numb Sasuke stood up and walked off into the forest, leaving Sakura's unconscious body behind.

Sasuke soon found himself in a fairly large clearing.

"Finally, what took you so fucking long, you slow ass?" said a female voice from across the clearing.

"Tayuya, watch your mouth, that language is unnecessary," scolded a deep male voice.

"Why don't you bite me, Jirobo" replied the female voice.

The sound four strolled into the moonlit clearing.

"Now, now, Tayuya, Jirobo stop it, let's not be so rude, he did show up after all," announced Sakon.

Sasuke became tense as they approached him. He was sure there would be another struggle like last time, but once they were right in front of him they all knelt down.

"What's this?" questioned Sasuke.

"It was decided by Lord Orochimaru himself that once you left Konoha behind, you were to assume leadership of the sound four," explained Sakon.

"Hn. Fine, take me to Orochi-"

"NO!"

Sasuke whipped around, '_It couldn't be,'_ he thought, But it was.

Sakura.

Sasuke hadn't had enough power and his genjutsu wore off too soon. Now a kunai knife was flying straight toward him and he didn't have enough time to stop it. Before he could blink Sakon had jumped in front of him, grabbed the kunai out of mid air, and launched it back the other way, striking Sakura in the leg.

"Ahhhhhh!" she shrieked in pain, wrenching the kunai from her leg and tossing it aside.

She was still groggy from the genjutsu she had been under and before she had time to collect herself Sakon was right in front of her.

"I will not have you trying to harm our new leader, girl!" Sakon spat at Sakura clutching her head. "And now that you've seen us I cannot allow you to live." Sakon threw Sakura into a tree and when she hit there was an echoing crack.

"Sakura!" Sasuke shouted, rushing to her side.

As Sasuke held Sakura's cold body in his arms he asked with welling emotion, "Why…? No matter how many times I ignored you and pushed you away… why did you keep coming back…? Why did you have to follow me? Why didn't you just forget about me?"

Sakura's hand slowly lifted and gently touched his cheek, "How many times do I have to say it… baka… it's because… I love you…" her eyes slowly shut and her arm fell limp. Sasuke clutched her limp body close to his.

"Oh, it looks like the poor girl is dead. Too bad, I barely had any fun," chuckled Sakon. "Come on, leave the body and let's go."

"…shut up," whispered Sasuke, clutching Sakura's body ever closer.

"What was that?" asked Sakon.

"I said SHUT UP!" Shouted Sasuke as he sharply stood up, still holding Sakura's body in his arms. "This wasn't supposed to happen. She wasn't supposed to get involved in this."

"What nonsense are you spouting?" asked Sakon.

"You said that once I left Konoha, I was your leader. Why then? Why did you act without orders?" demanded the enraged Uchiha.

"She was a nuisance, so I took care of her. It's the girl's own fault for getting in our way," stated Sakon.

Sasuke sat Sakura's body down and propped it up against a tree. He brushed the hair out of her face and his hand began to tremble. His hand grew into a fist as he slowly stood up.

"Are you ready now?" asked Sakon, starting to get annoyed.

"No."

"No?"

"You heard me," said Sasuke. "I've changed my mind. I'm not going with you. Not now. Not ever."

"Oh, you're coming with us all right," declared Sakon, "even if I have to take you there in a body bag!" Sakon lunged at Sasuke, but he was gone even before Sakon's feet left the ground.

"What?" said Sakon, completely caught off guard.

"Maybe I didn't make myself clear before," said a voice from behind Sakon, "I'm not going anywhere." Sakon turned around and saw Sasuke standing on a tree branch. His curse mark was activated and quickly spreading all over his body.

"Do you think that pathetic curse mark can stand up to mine?" asked Sakon, laughingly.

"Yes. I do!" shouted Sasuke as the curse mark covered his entire body. "Because I have something worth fighting for."

"Revenge?" questioned Sakon.

"No." Sasuke's body began to glow brighter, and his curse mark began to change color. Erupting from the mark on his neck, came a bright white energy. The energy surged through his curse mark and it began turning white. Every inch of Sasuke's body that was covered in curse mark no longer held an ominous black glow, now it shined a bright white just like the moon above him.

Sakon grew afraid of this new phenomenon. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen. None of the other test subjects ever showed signs like this before. He could feel the power of Sasuke's curse mark from where he stood. As Sasuke shined even brighter Sakon was blinded. He tried to cover his eyes but it was too much.

Sasuke burst forward with such force that the tree on which he stood was uprooted and thrown backwards. He shot toward Sakon like a cannonball, and his right arm, gripping a kunai, pierced right through Sakon's chest. Sakon gasped for air, then collapsed onto the ground.

"You bastard traitor!" shouted Tayuya reaching for her flute, but her fingertips just barely grazed it when Sasuke appeared behind her and snapped it in two. With no weapon at her disposal, Tayuya had no choice but to rely on her curse mark. While she was busy trying to transform Sasuke grabbed hold of her head and snapped her neck as easily as he did her flute.

Suddenly the earth flew up around him and encased him in an earth prison. "It's no use struggling. There's no getting out of my prison once you're trapped inside." shouted Jirobo. Jirobo sighed a breath of relief once he could feel Sasuke's chakra being absorbed through his earth dome.

His relief was short lived as Sasuke came barreling out of the earth prison, shattering it to rubble.

"T-That's impossible," Jirobo stuttered.

"What's the matter? Are you surprised?" shouted Sasuke as he punched Jirobo in the gut. Jirobo fell to his knees. Sasuke kicked Jirobo in the face and sent him flying into the mountain of ruble from his failed technique, splitting Jirobo's head open, and spilling his blood all over the dirt.

Kidomaru was scared to death of Sasuke, so he ran. He ran as fast as his legs would take him. He knew when he was no match for an opponent, and watching his teammates get murdered so effortlessly had confirmed that. Before Kidomaru could get far, Sasuke, with the power of his new curse mark flowing through him, picked up the massive tree he had uprooted, and crushed Kidomaru with such unimaginable force that his body splattered just like the bug he was.

The sound four had been defeated, and now Sasuke had only one thing left to do. He ran over to Sakura and cradled her body in his arms. After staring into her face for a moment, he ran off, back towards Konoha.

After that feat of strength and speed he just pulled, Sasuke's powers were finally fading. His glowing mark began to recede back into his neck. As the glow of white began to leave his body, everything began to get blurry. Sasuke's body suddenly felt extremely heavy, and he started plummeting towards the ground. With the last of his strength he twisted his body around, so that he wouldn't land on top of Sakura and instead protect her body from the fall.

* * *

Back in Konoha, the hospital was buzzing with life as two near death patients were admitted the night before. Found bruised and bloodied in the forest, no one thought either of them would make it. Doctors worked on them both throughout the night. Once the morning light came crawling across the village, the doctors finally had their chance to rest.

One of the patients opened their eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling, and instinctually tried to get up.

"You shouldn't try to get up just yet. You may end up hurting yourself."

The patient looked over to see Kakashi sitting in the corner, reading his favorite book.

"I hope you found what you were looking for out in those woods, Sasuke," said Kakashi.

"Yeah, I did," said Sasuke in a raspy voice.

"I'm glad to see you're still **here** with us," said Kakashi, putting emphasis on the word "here".

"Hn."

"It looked like quite the battle happened out there. At least it's over now," said Kakashi.

"No," said Sasuke, "so long as I have this curse mark on my neck it will never be over." Sasuke grabbed his neck.

"Sasuke, there's something you need to see," said Kakashi. He stood up and picked up a mirror off of the nightstand beside Sasuke's bed. "Look."

Sasuke looked, and stared in awe at what he saw, or more precisely what he didn't see.

"Your curse mark is gone," said Kakashi.

"B-But how?" asked Sasuke. "I thought there were no jutsu that could remove it."

"There aren't," said Kakashi.

"Then how?" asked Sasuke, still amazed.

"When the ANBU found you and Sakura, your curse mark was glowing white and receding. It wasn't any jutsu that destroyed the curse mark," Kakashi explained.

"Wait a minute," it had finally sunk in when Kakashi spoke, "where is Sakura? Is she alright? What happened to her?" asked Sasuke in panic. Sasuke's heart rate shot up from all the excitement and his heart monitor was going off like crazy.

The doctors rushed in to see what was wrong. When they saw how riled up Sasuke was, they quickly gave him medicine to calm him. One doctor scolded Kakashi, "If he woke up you should have come to get us!"

Kakashi made a half hearted nod and turned to Sasuke, "Calm down Sasuke. Sakura will be alright. She's in the next room at the moment. Sasuke, I need you to tell me what happened."

Sasuke took a deep breath, "I left the village."

Kakashi was now completely serious, and nodded for Sasuke to continue.

"Sakura came to try to stop me. I thought I had knocked her out cold, but she ended up following me. She caught up to me and we fought."

"You fought?" asked Kakashi in shock that more of his students were fighting one another.

"Yeah, she was actually quite good. She caught me off guard and gave me one hell of a beating," Sasuke smiled, strangely proud of how she preformed.

Kakashi relaxed a bit from Sasuke's attitude and expression, and nodded for him to continue.

"I had to use my Sharingan to put her to sleep. Then I met up with…" Sasuke trailed off.

"With who, Sasuke?" demanded Kakashi.

"I met up with Orochimaru's underlings, the Sound Four. They were going to take me to Orochimaru. I would have left with them if it wasn't for Sakura showing up at the last second. I hadn't put enough energy to knock her out for long enough. I guess I should thank her later. If it wasn't for her, I would have left with them."

"When you were found the ANBU also found these, 'Sound Four' people. They were all dead. How did that happen?" asked Kakashi.

"I did that," Sasuke admitted.

"By yourself?" questioned Kakashi, surprised.

"Yes. Sakura interrupted my meeting with them, and… and…" Sasuke's blood began to boil as he remembered what Sakon did.

"Sasuke, calm down!" ordered Kakashi, "If you don't the doctors will just come in and sedate you. Now finish the story. It is important that we know exactly what happened."

Sasuke attempted to calm himself down to finish, with little success. "One of the Sound Four attacked Sakura, and sent her straight into a tree," Sasuke flinched, "You're sure that Sakura is all right?" he asked again worrying.

"She's fine, Sasuke," Kakashi reassured him, "Just please finish."

"Okay. As soon as I saw her body hit the ground something inside me exploded. Nothing else mattered. The only thing I knew was that I never wanted to see something like that happen to Sakura ever again. The curse mark activated, and before I knew it I killed the entire Sound Four."

"Thank you for clearing all that up, Sasuke," said Kakashi.

When Kakashi got up to leave Sasuke spoke again, "There was one thing though. Right before I killed them I had a strange feeling coursing through me. It was a mixture of fear, remorse, misery, anger, and… something else… it felt so familiar, so warm. Kakashi-sensei, you said that there was no jutsu that could remove a curse mark, so why did mine fade away?"

Kakashi stood in the doorway, thinking about how to answer that question. "It is true. No jutsu exists that we know about that could remove the curse mark you had. It didn't just go away on it's own. That curse mark was fueled by your hatred, when you described how you felt during that battle you never said you felt hatred."

Sasuke interrupted, "I said I was angry."

"Yes," Kakashi agreed, "but anger and hatred are not always the same thing. Your emotions that night were so strong, so pure, that it ended up burning the curse mark right out of your body; and after hearing your side of the story it all finally makes sense to me."

"My side? Does that mean you already heard Sakura's?" questioned Sasuke.

"Yes, and you and her think very differently what details are important enough to share," said Kakashi.

"So do you know why my curse mark is gone or not?" asked an impatient Sasuke.

"I already told you, it was the strength of your emotion, one particular emotion in fact. It was your love, Sasuke. Your love was too much for the curse mark to handle, it purified the curse mark's power, increasing it immensely, causing the white glow, and giving you enough strength to defeat the Sound Four," explained Kakashi. "Your love for Sakura saved both your lives."

Sasuke was speechless, his heart monitor flat lined for a few seconds. His love saved his life? It had been so long since he had felt love, not since his parents. He had all but forgotten it, no wonder it seemed so foreign to him now. He was not expecting to hear any of this. He wasn't sure how to process this information.

"I'll let you get your rest now," Kakashi said as he left the room.

Now that it had been stated to Sasuke so clearly, there was no more denying it. He had to see Sakura. He swung his legs over the side of the bed. He jumped out of bed a little too quickly and he had to grab hold of the bed because his legs gave out on him.

A nurse walked in on him gripping onto his bed. "You shouldn't be out of bed yet."

"Please, I just need to see Sakura. I need to see she's okay with my own eyes," pleaded Sasuke.

The nurse smiled at his words and rolled him in a wheelchair from the hall. "Here, this will help you. She's right next door."

Sasuke shuffled into the wheelchair, and the nurse hung his IV bag for him. He rolled into her room to find her asleep in her bed. He didn't want to wake her so he just rolled up beside her and watched her sleep. As he watched he couldn't help but notice just how beautiful she really was.

After Sasuke admired her for several minutes, Sakura's eyes fluttered open. "Sasuke?" she asked in a raspy voice.

Sasuke perked up, "Yes, Sakura, it's me," he reassured.

"I'm glad you're still here," Sakura smiled.

"I'm glad I'm here too, because I'm with you," said Sasuke.

Sakura's cheeks flushed a faint pink, "Aw, you don't mean that."

"Yes I do, Sakura," Sasuke assured her. He leaned closer to Sakura. "I want to thank you for what you did, if it wasn't for you I wouldn't be here right now."

Sakura couldn't believe her ears, and hoped that this wasn't some drug induced dream, "I only did what my heart was telling me to do."

"I know, and now I understand too. Sakura, I love you," said Sasuke.

"Oh, Sasuke," Sakura's eyes began to well up with tears.

" I am sorry that this had to happen to you. I wish that I could just make it better. I didn't want you to end up in the hospital. I'm sorry this is what had to happen before I could figure out how I really felt. I didn't want any more bonds that could possibly be broken and hurt me. I thought I had done a good job of keeping you out, but now I see that there has been a bond between us all along. I was a fool," Sasuke said.

"Sasuke?"

"Yes?"

"You talk too much," said Sakura as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into a kiss. Sasuke didn't fight it, he just enjoyed it. Their first kiss, and hopefully not their last. "I love you too!"

Unfortunately their first kiss had an audience. "Uh, hey, Sasuke, Sakura, good to see you guys are both okay." Naruto stood in the doorway of the room, with a hand full of flowers.

"Oh, Naruto, it's you," said Sakura, slightly embarrassed. "Who are the flowers for?"

Naruto's face turned slightly red. "Oh these? These are for you," he sat the flowers down next to her bed, "from Ino," he quickly added. "Yeah, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to make it down today, so she sent these with me. Heh heh. She said she'd be down later if she gets off early enough."

"I'll have to remember to thank her later. I'm glad you came, Naruto, it's nice to see you," said Sakura.

"I'm just glad to see you're both okay," said Naruto. "So what happened to you guys?"

"Maybe later, Naruto, I'm tired right now," said Sakura.

Naruto understood, "Okay. Well, I hope you get better soon, I'll come see you guys tomorrow, I guess."

"No, Naruto, you can stay a little longer," pleaded Sakura, believing that she may have misspoke.

"It's alright, Sakura. You and Sasuke need your rest. I completely understand," Naruto turned around and quickly walked out of the room. Sakura was a little disappointed; after how hectic last night was she was kind of looking forward to Naruto's carefree enthusiasm. His personality was the best medicine for one's spirit. Before she could think about it further though, she found herself drifting back off to sleep. She would have fought more to stay awake if she hadn't see Sasuke already fast asleep, leaning on her bed. He looked so different now than when she had seen him sleep on missions—restless and angry—he finally looked like he had peace of mind. In her last conscious thoughts, Sakura wished that he could always sleep so soundly.

The sky was a blazing orange when Sakura awakened. A tray of food was sitting beside her bed on the hospital table. She propped her bed up and pulled the table over. She picked up the bowl of rice and began eating it, "Ew, it's cold." The food had been sitting out for hours. Sakura set down the rice and decided to indulge in the pudding cup instead. "At least this is still good."

"Jeez, Sakura better slow down. You don't want to get fat now, do you?"

"No one's fatter than you Ino-pig!" shouted Sakura instinctively. "Oh, Ino when did you get here?"

"Calm down, I just came to visit. Although it doesn't seem like you're feeling all that bad," said Ino, gliding over to Sakura's bed and sitting on the edge.

"Actually, yelling just now really hurt, but the medicine they have me on is so strong that I'll be fine in a minute," Sakura corrected.

"So, how are you feeling?" Ino asked, genuinely concerned.

Sakura smiled at Ino's compassion. "I'm feeling pretty bad actually. I popped a few disk in my spine and my back's cracked in twelve places. They say I'm lucky to be alive," Sakura explained, "but it was completely worth it," she whispered under her breath.

Ino was stunned, "What happened?"

"Maybe some other time, Ino, this medicine they've got me on has got me so tired," said Sakura.

"At least you are alive," Ino said, smiling gently. She carefully gave Sakura a hug.

"Why don't you go visit Sasuke. I feel like I'm about to pass out again," suggested Sakura.

"Oh don't worry, I already did. Sadly he was asleep, but he looked so adorable. I wanted to hold him in my arms and gently stroke his hair, but I had to keep reminding myself that he was hurt and needed to heal, so I had to settle for just watching him sleep," Ino cooed. Snapping out of her daydream, Ino saw the flowers on the table, "So, I see Naruto has already come to visit."

"Yeah, he came, dropped off the flowers, and left. Thank you for the flowers, Ino, they're beautiful," said Sakura.

"Oh, Sakura I'm flattered, but even with my recommendations Naruto must have spent hours deciding which flowers to buy," Ino explained. "Can you believe he actually walked in asking for some cherry blossoms to give you? It took me ten minutes to explain to him why we didn't sell them."

"Wait," Sakura interrupted, "you mean, Naruto bought these?"

"What do you mean? Didn't you just say that he brought them to you himself?" asked Ino.

"He did, but he said… never mind," said Sakura.

"Sakura, I think the medication is going to your head," said Ino. "Well, I should probably get going. I'll come back again soon."

"Yeah, see you…" Sakura said, trailing off into her own thoughts. She had a lot to think about—good thing she had plenty of time to think.

Naruto strolled in the next day with his usual spark. "Hey, Sakura are you doing any better today?"

"Yeah, I am actually," said Sakura. She wasn't really feeling up to what she had to do though. She let out a sigh, '_It's now or never,_' she thought. "Ino came to visit yesterday."

Naruto tensed up. "R-Really? She made it after all, huh?"

"Yeah, she did. Naruto, she told me about the flowers," Sakura said.

"Well, okay, so I may have pitched in a little for them, but it's no big deal. Anyway, I have somewhere I have to be so I'll just head out now," said Naruto frantically.

"Naruto, wait!" Sakura shouted. Naruto stopped with his hand on the doorknob, but didn't turn around. "I know how you feel about me, Naruto. I want you to know that this is the hardest thing I have ever had to say. You're a great guy, Naruto—always keeping an upbeat attitude, and you're so reliable—but I just don't feel the same way about you. I'm sorry. Naruto I do love you—"

"Sakura, please don't…" pleaded Naruto.

"No, Naruto you need to hear this. It's not like I haven't thought about this, Naruto. I have put more thought into it than you know. I care about you deeply, but, to me, you're like family. I don't want to lose you as a friend over this," Sakura pleaded.

"Sakura, stop. I wouldn't stop being your friend because of this; you're too important to me. I'm sorry, but I have to go. I'll see you later," said Naruto, never turning around once. He opened the door and began to leave

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted.

Naruto stopped.

"Thank you for the flowers, I love them," Sakura said gently.

Naruto smiled faintly, "No problem." He left the hospital without looking back, and Sakura didn't see him again for two weeks—even then it was only for a few minutes. Everyday that went by that she didn't see Naruto walk through the door made her feel a little bit worse. Sasuke tried to help, but being emotionally supportive wasn't exactly his strong suit. If it wasn't for Ino's constant updates on how Naruto was doing Sakura would have went insane with guilt.

Today was finally the day, after three weeks Sakura was finally getting out of the hospital. Sasuke wasn't nearly as bad as Sakura and had already been out of the hospital for a week and a half. He made sure to make it to the hospital everyday, but he didn't always stay long. He still had some unresolved issues to work out, so he spent most of his time outside the hospital alone with his thoughts. Slowly, but surely though he and Sakura grew closer.

As Sakura was wheeled out of the hospital the sun's rays caressed her skin, "Mmm it feels so good out here. I missed this feeling." Sasuke smiled at her, and just as quickly as his smile came it disappeared—Sasuke was still Sasuke after all. Waiting for her outside the hospital was someone Sakura was not expecting.

"Hey, Sakura," a hand was extended towards Sakura, "Need a hand?"

Sakura eagerly took it, and it pulled her out of her wheelchair, "Naruto!" she shouted as she pulled him into a hug. "It's great to see you."

"It's nice to see you too. I couldn't miss your big day," he said softly.

"I'm glad," said Sakura happily.

"Come on, how about we go eat," offered Naruto, "on me."

"Sure, but where?" asked Sakura.

"Anywhere you want," said Naruto.

"Well then, what do you say to Ichiraku, Sensei~," Sakura teased.

Naruto's face burst into his usual goofy grin, "I say, what are we waiting for?"

"Is that okay with you Sasuke?" Naruto asked.

"Hn," was his only response.

"Come here you," said Sakura dragging him over to her side. She laced her fingers together with his, put her hand on Naruto's shoulder for support, and they all walked off toward Ichiraku.

* * *

**Well I hope what little bit of you who read this, liked this story, regardless of how long it took to finish.**

**I was really satisfied with how the fight scenes came out, I think...**

**I couldn't resist having Sakura use Naruto's attack! I mean she already was using his jutsu ^.^**

**Next time I put up some fanfiction I won't be doing it unless the story is already complete, or I know I will work on it on a constant basis.**

**Thank you to all who read this, I bow to you.**


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